We Only Want the Earth 2024 – Residency Award One
A4 Sounds in partnership with Create and Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) invite applications from trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming artists for a five-month residency award as part of the We Only Want the Earth programme. The residency will run from January to June 2025. The residency opportunity aims to support an artist based in Ireland to develop their arts practice.
Deadline: 5pm, Friday 15th November 2024
About We Only Want the Earth
The context for We Only Want the Earth is ongoing, unpredictable social change. The neoliberal order and the unipolar system of US hegemony are collapsing. Climate change is accelerating, and alongside it eco-fascism and “lifeboat ethics” are growing in Europe and elsewhere. The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the crises of inequality and homelessness. We are living through Gramsci’s interregnum: the old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born. New opportunities for radical social change present themselves, but they are accompanied by reactionary violence that seeks to return to an imagined idyllic past. In this context, deliberative and discursive arts practices are urgently needed.
We Only Want the Earth is a yearly programme of awards, exhibitions, and events that seeks to interrogate the goals and strategies of social change: what kind of society do we want and how should we get there?
About the award
The purpose of the award is to support the research and development of new, ambitious and critical work that resonates with the themes of the We Only Want the Earth Programme.
This award will support a trans, nonbinary, and/or gender nonconforming artist to research and develop a body of work at the A4 Sounds Studios and to help them further develop their artistic practice.
The award will provide the selected artist with material support and an opportunity to work collaboratively with the curatorial team to develop their ideas and skills, experiment with materials and approaches in making new work, foster new relationships with communities and or collaborators, and to deepen their understanding and approach to their practice.
Please note: the artist is free to work on any topic of their choosing; there is no requirement that the work deal with issues of gender identity. Proposals must respond to the theme ‘We Only Want the Earth’.
What the award involves
The award includes:
- Free 24-hour access to a studio space at A4 Sounds.
- A monthly stipend of €1,600 towards materials and residency costs (Total €8,000).
- Access to a range of professional development, training and technical supports.
- Access to the facilities at A4 Sounds, including personal and shared workspace, sculpture workshop, photography darkroom, printing suite and equipment.
- Access to all A4 Sounds public workshops and courses for the duration of the residency.
- Opportunities to experiment with ways to disseminate their work in public
Throughout the residency, advice and mentorship will be provided by A4 Sounds and representatives from Create, Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and our consulting artists.
Please note: this residency does not include accommodation as part of the award.
Aims & Expectations of the Residency
The selected artist is expected to
- Be available to work from the studio for the duration of the residency a minimum of 3 days per week
- Participate in studio life and take full advantage of resources and learning opportunities available.
- To be available to meet with the programme producer monthly to discuss their work and receive feedback and advice.
- To be available to meet with mentoring partners and consulting artists monthly to discuss their work and receive feedback and advice.
- To be fully engaged with their practice and spend time developing their ideas and understanding of the themes in the proposed work.
- To develop new work across a five-month period*
- We will work with the successful artist to document their progress and ask that aspects of the documentation be made available to A4 for use.
*Artists who engage fully with the residency may be considered for exhibition in 2025/2026 as part of our Common Thread Strand or Exhibition Awards.
Who is eligible?
We invite applications from artists who are trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming, who are currently based in Ireland. Due to the significant workload of the residency, artists who are currently in full-time undergraduate or post- graduate education cannot apply.
Please note: Due to the high rental costs and difficulty securing accommodation in Dublin this award may be best suited to someone who currently lives in Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare, Meath or Louth. We welcome applications from outside these areas but please let us know on your application form how you will manage your accommodation and/or travel to Dublin.
What types of proposals are we seeking?
We invite radical, risk taking, bold, mischievous, and political proposals. This is a visual arts award, but we welcome proposals from artists with multidisciplinary approaches.
We are keen to hear from artists who use a wide range of approaches to explore their ideas; including but not limited to: politically or socially engaged, collaboration with communities, collaboration with artists, protest, organizing, writing, sound, conversation, food, performance, video, media, sculpture, research, installation and print.
Accessibility
The selected artist will work closely with our programme producer who will discuss any needs you have in advance and develop an access plan with you.
Unfortunately, the A4 Sounds studio building is not fully accessible. The studio space and bathrooms are accessed via a flight of stairs (approx. 22 steps) which may provide difficulties for folks with movement impairments. We understand that this may exclude some artists from applying for the award, and we apologise for this.
The studio itself is private but shared with two other artists. It has LED lighting, a comfortable chair and is generally quiet, but at times there may be loud sounds leaking through the building from our workshop.
Members of staff will be available on weekdays to offer in-person support. If you have specific accessibility needs and are concerned about the suitability of the award, please get in touch with us via wowte@a4sounds.org and we will be happy to discuss with you.
How to apply
- Read in full about our programme here.
- Read the open call and complete the application form here.
Deadline: 5pm, Friday 15th November 2024